3 Soviet Diplomats Arrested In Berlin

October 13, 1985|By United Press International

BERLIN — Three Soviet diplomats were arrested in West Berlin Friday night on suspicion of spying on the U.S. Army and were later released to Soviet authorities, the U.S. military headquarters said Saturday.

The brief announcement said the Soviets were arrested at 7:40 p.m. but did not say what they had been doing or how they had been caught.

In accordance with the four-power status of post-war Berlin, the three were turned over to Soviet representatives from East Berlin after they had been identified. Their names or positions were not disclosed.

The announcement said, ''They were apprehended and detained by Allied authorities in connection with suspected espionage activities directed against the U.S. Army.

''In accordance with the special status of the four powers in Berlin, the Soviets were turned over to Soviet representatives from the Soviet sector of Berlin once their identities had been properly verified.''

Under postwar agreements with the Soviets, official representatives of the American, British, French and Soviet occupation authorities in Berlin are not prosecuted when arrested in another sector of the city. Instead, they are turned over to their own authorities.

A U.S. Army spokesman for the U.S. Mission in Berlin refused to elaborate on the announcement.

''That is all we are saying at this time,'' he said.

The arrests were the latest sign of growing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union in Germany.

On March 24, Maj. Arthur Nicholson Jr., 37, was shot and killed by a Soviet soldier at Ludwigslust in East Germany, 70 miles northwest of Berlin, near a Soviet tank unit.

The Soviet Union said Nicholson had been in a restricted area, but the United States denied the charge.